Fried Ice
by Zephyscribe
Summary: To say that the hot weather makes Weiss Schnee, heiress to the prestigious Schnee family dust company, feel uncomfortable would be a gross understatement. What happens when a bored miss Schnee finds a mysterious cardboard box in a her heat deranged state of mind. Even the coldest ice can have a meltdown.


Despite her best efforts, the girl could not stay dry. The humid sticky air was impeccably complimented by the broken air conditioner unit riveted to the wall, and the droplets of beaded sweat that rolled lazily down her brow topped the cherry on her misery Sunday. Weiss was not used to being in this heat. A privileged girl, raised in the frigid north, her family had never even had need for an air conditioning. Her bedroom back home was crowded with an oversized brick fireplace, and she would frequently curl up on the ancient fur rug that lay before it when she knew that there was no risk of anyone bargaining in and seeing her laying there on the floor. But this was not her home and she would be happy to trade everything she had, if someone would just come and fix the stupid air conditioning. Like any ice cube on a hot Sunday afternoon, Weiss was melting.

"Uhhhgg! This is taking forever." The girl jumped off the bed from which she had been perched delicately upon with legs crossed. "How long does that dolt insist on making me wait." She paced back and forth, her padded shoes falling lightly on the garish brown carpet of the dorm room. "Doesn't she know who I am. She may have weaseled her way into the team leader spot, but this is unacceptable," Her exasperated hand motions punctuating every word. "A leader should always be prompt to a tea."

Weiss suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Her mother had frequently scolded her for her pacing habit back home. 'A proper lady remains still and does not show her emotions so impulsively,' she could almost hear mothers words in her ears, the remembrance felt like sand paper grating over her forehead. Taking a deep breath, the white haired girl proceeded to curtsey and adopt a falsely warm smile. The paper clad walls were not impressed by her acting, and the cardboard box that lay before her, sprawled out haphazardly on the wooden desk, did not grace her with a return smile.

The box was not much to look at. A standard cardboard fare, with a crushed corner and a dull white sticker slapped over its face. It had arrived nearly three days ago with an unmistakable red rose printed on its side, no one questioned who the box had been meant for, not even Weiss. But now that it was sitting there, gazing back at her with alluring mystery, she began to wonder.

It had been days since the box had arrived in the mail, and still Ruby Rose had not opened it. Of course that could be chalked up as a result of Ruby's laziness and disregard for any sense of urgency. Qualities for which she was notorious for, at least in Weiss' mind. But what if that wasn't it? What if there was something far more sinister, far more menacing. Weiss let her eyes flick back and forth, scanning the room to make doubly sure no one was here, it was more of a habit than for actual necessity, but made her feel more secure nonetheless.

"What do we have here?" Weiss pounced forward on the box clutching it in her pale hands and licking her lips hungrily. "I am sure she would not mind if I just took a peak," she muttered to herself. Only the walls stared back at her, unimpressed. "What!? It is what she deserves for making me wait for so long, she was supposed to be here hours ago. It is probably just a box of chocolates from some far off relative, in which case I will indulge in just a few, after all it is only fair." She wiped her palms on a handkerchief and traced her fingers down the seam of the box.

'A proper lady does not pry in the business of others,' she herd her mother say. Another one of her lessons in piety that had been repetitively driven into Weiss' mind like a rail road spike.

"Fine! Fine, very well." Weiss tossed the box back onto the table and flopped back into her bed with uncharacteristic inelegance. "I bet it is something pointless anyways, knowing her its some dirty clothes she forgot at home," she chuckled at her own joke.

* * *

There were two things that Weiss did not cope well with. The first thing was heat and the second was boredom, and today seemed to have a plethora of both. She lay sprawled in her bed, her facade of elegance tossed aside what seemed like hours ago. Her feet jutted out in front of her and pressed against the bottom of the bunk bed above her, like an upside down atlas holding the weight of crushing boredom aloft with her awkward position. She twirled her fancy jacket above her head like a helicopter, but even that could not avail the tedium of this day.

Her head slumped to the side and her eyes alighted once more on the cardboard box sitting on the table. She scowled and looked away swiftly. Yet, ever so slowly she let her eyes wander nonchalantly back to the box. What if it were books in that box, or newspapers, embarrassing photos, anything that could spice up this day. Weiss let her legs slap down to the bed and twisted herself to get closer to the box once again. She needed something, anything to occupy her time. She had already finished all her homework for the entire next week.

She took the box in her hand, holding it and gazing deeply at its brown monochrome. It could have anything in it, anything at all. What if it were a new weapon, what if it was a trap!? She held the box up to her ear and closed her eyes...'Tick tock tick tock.' Weiss bolted up suddenly. Yes, what if this were some elaborate bomb, shipped into the academy by the white fang or some other disreputable terrorist group. Ruby had been having run ins with various undesirables, maybe that is why she had yet to open it, she knew. The faint ticking sound that emanated from within was all the proof she needed.

If this were the case, Weiss knew that it was her duty and responsibility to dispose of the box! She had to be the best teammate ever and watch out for her comrades. Yes, this had to be dealt with immediately. Weiss rolled out of the bed and crashed down onto the carpet in a heap. in her rush, she had failed to notice the jacket wrapped around her legs, the box lay crushed beneath her.

"Get down!" she shouted ignoring the fact that she was already laying face first on the floor. She wasn't dead, at least not yet, and that was a good sign. Weiss groaned and pulled herself up off the ground, the box still cradled in her arms like a mother holding a child. One of Weiss' greatest weaknesses, the heat had fried her brain like an egg and terminated any vestiges of rational thought that she had been clinging to.

Regaining her composure as well as a half dressed, heat stroked girl who had just taken a fall could, she dashed for the door. It opened with a creak and she barreled out, stumbling along the way, the box pressed against her chest.

"Yo Weiss," Yang said casually with one hand on her hip and the other raised up for a wave. Dressed in her light casual wear, Yang was likely headed back to the dorm to pick something up, but Weiss had no time for pleasantries. She dashed by with intense laser focus on the task at hand, leaving Yang standing stunned in the now empty hallway, eyebrow twitching and hair disheveled by the sudden air blast Weiss has generated with her passing. A string of expletives flooded the hall as Yang frantically tried to restyle her hair. But Weiss took no heed to any of that.

Knees pumping high, nearly up to her waist, and arms flailing, Weiss dashed through the hallways with speed that bordered on the edge of dust enhanced teleportation. Many students felt an icy presence crawl up their spines and a white shapeless mass flash briefly by before disappearing around a corner. For years to come, there would whispers among the students, telling of the mysterious and elusive white ghost that haunted the school on particularly hot Sunday afternoons, and the legend of the tale would grow and evolve to become one of the great unsolved mysteries of beacon academy. But Weiss took no heed to any of that.

Professor Ozpin strolled leisurely through the cafeteria, a certain cheerful bounce to his step and a cup of steaming fresh coffee clutched contentedly in his hand. Coffee was of extreme importance to the professor, and today he had achieved the absolute perfect ratio of liquids to sugar, it was always a good day when good coffee was involved. Like a king admiring his lands, he proudly surveyed the stray groups of student body, sitting in their respective groups and cliques. There was something special about this particular year of students, he thought. He couldn't put his finger on it, but they just all seemed predominantly exceptional, especially the new freshmen.

As Weiss entered the Cafeteria she reached her maximum running velocity. In fact she was traveling so fast that the rubbing friction of the stale, unventilated cafeteria air gained enough prevalence that Weiss' thinly styled eyebrows began to smoke and partly singe off her forehead. The tiny trailing tendrils of smoke wafted up slowly to the ceiling where they gently gathered and alighted upon the extremely sensitive set of smoke detectors. The smoke, despite its meager concentration, was just enough to trigger the alarm and subsequently spark the cafeterias powerful set of fire protection sprinklers.

The Cafeteria filled with the shrieks of students as they frantically scrambled to avoid being drenched in the torrential downpour of the sprinklers. Ozpin stood like a statue in the center of the room amidst the chaos. His water-laden hair drooped over his face and concealed his expression. Ever so slowly, he tilted the cup to his lips and took an experimental sip. Somehow retaining his composure as he became more and more soaked, the professor walked slowly over to a table and set his coffee cup lightly on it. He then turned, sauntered over to the nearest trash bin and spit out the sip of coffee that he had kept in his mouth. Watered down coffee was disgusting, and the sugar ratio had been ruined by the extra liquid. He thought to himself that maybe he was wrong, this years students were nothing special, in fact they were horrible and there should be a school wide increase in the homework load for all of them. But Weiss took no heed to any of that.

The snow white speed demon continued to race through the school, up and down stairwells, and through empty class rooms. However one of such classes was not actually vacant on this Sunday afternoon as it should have been. Fellow classmates Pyrrah Nikos and Juane Arc had taken to carrying out clandestine combat practice and study sessions in one of the empty lecture halls. Despite Pyrrahs veiled advances and silent attempts to get closer to the leader of her team during these training sessions, she could not seem to make any headway. However that was all about to change.

As Weiss cartwheeled through the hall, her left shoe was inadvertently ejected from her foot with her violent dash down the stairs. The shoe somersaulted through the air and smashed into the only working light fixture on the roof, which in turn showered the room with shards of glass and cast it with a dim atmosphere. As the glass plummeted down, Pyrrah's expertly honed reflexes kicked in. Without hesitation, Pyrrah leapt forward, tackling the blonde boy in front of her like a jaguar pouncing on prey, knocking him out of harms way.

The two of them lay sprawled on the floor in the dim room for a time without saying any words. After a brief silence the still-stunned Jaune ventured to speak.

"You saved me again...Thank you Pyrrah," the red haired girl smiled back sweetly.

"It was really nothing. Here, let me help you up," she started to pull herself up off the floor, holding her hand out to her friend. Jaune took her hand but did not pull himself back up to standing position as she had expected him to, but instead lay there unmoving and gazing into her eyes. Surely he was still dazed from the accident...surly. But when Jaune remained still Pyrrah began to become concerned.

"Jaune-" she began to say

"Pyrrah, " the boy interrupted. "You are always the one saving me. I..I think its time for me to repay the favor, and save you," his voice adopted a determined drive and resolve.

"Save me," a very confused Pyrrah began. "What do you mean by tha-" however she was cutoff once again as Jaune pulled himself close to her and planted a kiss on her lips.

"I have no idea," he said dreamily. "It just sounded cool, you know," He let his lips meet hers as she tilted her head to the side, deepening the kiss. It tasted surprisingly sweet, like cherry, he did not mind, not one bit. It marked the first kiss for either of them, and what a kiss it was. But Weiss took no heed to any of that.

Bursting through the thick double doors, Weiss emerged into the front courtyard, sliding to a halt. She took a moment to survey her surroundings, head whirling from side to side. Her icy stare finally alighted on what she had been seeking, a shallow pond bordered with pristine white tiles.

"Gotcha!" Weiss proclaimed as she dived for the pond, surly if she ditched the package in the pond, it would lessen the shrapnel from any explosion. Jumping for the pond, she splashed face first into the cool water, trying to run for a the center of the pool. Trails of steam curled up around her as her extreme temperature began to recede.

"Uhm... Weiss. Earth to Weiss, what are you doing?" A worried voice rang out. Weiss turned with a flourish holding the package tightly in her hands. Ruby stared back with an expression of equal parts bewilderment and unease.

"The bomb, must destroy, save the school!" she shouted her words slurring together into almost incoherence. Weiss did not understand why Ruby looked so afraid.

"Weiss, are you okay..."

"I am perfectly fine!" her voice sounding more and more deranged with every passing second.

"Well, you dont look fine," Ruby held out her hand, "Why dont you just relax and come here."

Weiss stood in the pond with water up to her waist. She had lost one shoe, and stood awkwardly lopsided because of it. Her eyebrows had been partially singed off. Her chaotic hair gave off the appearance that she had been living as a savage deep in the jungle for months. Finally her signature jacket was missing and a crazed expression played across her face.

"Just come here Weiss. There is nothing to worry about," Ruby sounded like she was addressing a dangerous stray dog that she didnt want to spook off.

"But the bomb," Weiss clutched the box defensively. "Someone is trying to assassinate you. I bet it is the White Fang, those terrorists are never up to any good."

"Assassinate me?"

"YES! Assassinate you, the box was addressed to you, and it was ticking. What else could it be." As the water began to alleviate her heat stroke Weiss' brain slowly started to piece itself back together. "At least...that is what I assumed."

Ruby put her face in her hands. "Weiss, that box is not even addressed to me."

"But the rose on the side...who else could it be meant for!"

"The Rose is there because it is FROM me. The package was meant to be for you. I am the one who sent it."

"You are sent me a bomb!" Weiss accused. Even as she said the words, she started to realize how ridiculous it all sounded, and even worse she started to recognize the true ludicrous nature of her appearance this situation that in her usually logical mind had somehow fabricated. Ruby stepped forward abruptly breaking Weiss' contemplation.

"No its not a bomb! Its a-" Ruby's words were interrupt by a loud POP as the top of exploded outward. Confetti flew into the air and rained down on Weiss, falling in her hair and landing on the water before slowly floating adrift.

For a moment there was no sound, save for the wind blowing through the trees. Weiss stared down into the water, her hair falling over her face. Ever so slowly her whole body began to shake and her knuckles turned even whiter than usual as she clutched the simple brown package with a slightly squished corner with all her might.

"Uhmm...Heh heh surprise," Ruby scratched the back of her head nervously. "Happy anniversary."


End file.
